


Escape this Town for a Little While

by for-the-glory-of-dragons (forthegloryofdragons)



Series: Jlaire Week July 2nd - July 8th 2018 [1]
Category: Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Jlaire Week, Season 3 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 09:11:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15139865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forthegloryofdragons/pseuds/for-the-glory-of-dragons
Summary: It's not easy getting used to a new life. With someone like Claire, maybe it will be just a bit easier.





	Escape this Town for a Little While

**Author's Note:**

> Jlaire Week Prompt #1: Shakespeare
> 
> I've been in love with Trollhunters since Part 1 came out. But then Part 3 happened. I still haven't recovered. 
> 
> So yes, Spoiler Alert if you haven't seen or completed Part 3 of Trollhunters!
> 
> Jim goes through a lot of anxiety in this. Just a warning in case that's not your cup of tea. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Shutting his bedroom door behind him quietly, he surveyed the damage done. Nothing had been destroyed, thankfully. He had worked himself into a panic trying to remove the amulet, and hadn't been able to focus on anything other than getting the cause of all his pain off his chest. Literally.

He took a shaky breath, and started by picking up his desk chair, setting it back on its wheels. His room suddenly felt small. His anxiety rose, and he focused on keeping his breathing steady. He took a seat, ignoring how the chair creaked under his weight and held his head in his hands.

His horns got in the way of his desperate clawing at his hair, trying to get a grip. He needed something to do. Something to distract him, something that wouldn't let his thoughts run wild, coming up with situations that only existed to bring on a panic attack. That was the last thing he needed. He had to stay calm. He had to _breathe._

"Jim?" His ears perked up at the voice. He had been so engrossed in trying to keep his cool that he hadn't heard her come in. She knelt down in front of him and pulled his hands away from his face gently, forcing him to look at her. "What's on your mind?"

He got down from the chair and joined her, task of cleaning his room forgotten. Even sitting cross-legged on the floor by her side, their new height difference didn't escape him. As a teenager, it was normal to feel uncomfortable in his own skin. This was on a whole other level. Struggling to get his breathing back under control, he shook his head. He didn't want Claire to worry, and yet, he couldn't stop.

"Everything," he finally said.

She didn't say anything, only hummed, indicating that she'd heard his subtle cry for help. She kept his hand, the one left uncovered by the armour, on her knee, and rubbed circles on it. It didn't help much, but it kept him grounded. She was here, and she was trying to help.

He kept his eyes shut for a while. Seeing his new hand — that wasn't really his for he had yet to accept it — would only make everything worse. He didn't need the reminder of his decision. He'd submerged himself into the water, fully knowing he would never be the same human he'd lived as for all 16 years of his life. He had to live with this.

Claire stood up, taking her warmth with her, and his breathing picked up again almost instantly. He needed her. He needed the silent comfort she brought that somehow always managed to placate his anxiety. He looked up just as she returned to his side with a stack of notes in hand. His heartbeat steadily returned to a normal rate. He tried to see what she had retrieved from his fallen notes and textbooks, but she purposefully kept the cover page hidden from him.

With a wry grin, she cleared her throat. "I must hear from thee every day in the hour, for in a minute there are many days."

She paused and looked up at him. Though it was but a single line, he knew exactly what it was. He blocked out the sound of his pounding heart in favour of escaping to the numerous nights he had spent beside his fair Claire, reciting lines he spoke from the heart, rather than a script. She was his Juliet, and he was her Romeo. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that Romeo and Juliet were much more to them than just characters in a play.

"Join me?" She asked him, breaking him out of his thoughts. He nodded. She took a deep breath. "O, by this count I shall be much in years ere I again behold my Romeo."

She offered him the script, but he waved her hand away. “Farewell!” He spoke, once again returning to the stage he had shared with her. He brought his armoured hand up to caress her cheek, still unwilling to return to his current reality. “I will omit no opportunity that may convene my greetings, love, to thee.”

“O, think’st thou we shall ever meet again?”

“I doubt it not,” he replied. He took her hands in both of his and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “And all these woes shall serve for sweet discourses in our times to come.”

“And don’t you forget it.” She wrapped her arms around him, ending up half on his lap. He didn’t mind one bit. He held her in his arms as he focused on keeping his breathing in time with hers. She held on tight, and he did too. He needed this. They needed this.

He only insisted that she move when she began fidgeting. She rubbed her sides, whining about the armour being too hard against her ribs. Not that he could blame her. It wasn’t exactly comfortable embracing metal.

“I meant what I said,” she told him as she settled back on the floor in front of him. “I’m not going to leave you, Jim.”

“I know.” For the first time since stumbling through his front door that night, he felt content.


End file.
